Rock of Waltham Saturday

Friday

Jun 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2008 at 12:31 AM

It took a year of planning with city officials, coordinating police details and, perhaps most importantly, buying porta-potties, for former Waltham resident Manny Hagopian's rock star dreams to come true.

Jeff Gilbride/Daily News staff

It took a year of planning with city officials, coordinating police details and, perhaps most importantly, buying porta-potties, for former Waltham resident Manny Hagopian's rock star dreams to come true.

Ten bands with Waltham connections will take over the Town Common to put on a free show tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Running the gamut from pop rock to hardcore metal, the Rock of Waltham showcase will feature The AndWutz, Blacktooth Grin, The Drew Scott Band, The Existants, Force the Fallen, Morgan Knockers, No Allegiance, Northern Pike and Peet Golan Disaster. Headlining the festival will be local rock band Graveyard BBQ, whosE song "Cheat on the Church" was featured in the popular video game "Guitar Hero 2."

Hagopian, 21, a Lexington resident who works as a bookkeeper for Shaw's Supermarket on Lexington Street in Waltham, masterminded the festival.

"All the bands that are playing have some sort of Waltham connection," he said. "A lot of them were born in Waltham, a lot of them work in Waltham and we all look up to Waltham the band."

Hagopian is a member of the pop rock band Force The Fallen, which includes two sets of brothers: Shamit and Rupam Som, and Manny and his brother, Rodger.

Manny Hagopian said the idea for this weekend's festival came after he got involved in Waltham's music scene.

"Me and my brother have been in the band for six to seven years now. About four years ago we started getting into the Waltham scene," he said. "We decided to start putting on our own shows at Waltham VFW posts and other places."

Over the past three years, Force the Fallen and friends from other bands have been putting on shows a few times a year, Hagopian said. Past shows included the Rock of Waltham X-Mas Extravaganza and three indoor Rock of Waltham shows.

"We just started to go wherever we could and we'd rent out a halls and we would just (put out flyers)," he said. "Our first show was about three or four years ago in Arlington."

About a year ago, Hagopian decided he wanted to put on an outdoor festival.

"I thought if a band was to make it or be known, the best way was not to join the scene but to become the scene," he said. "So I added my band to the festival and gave us the best slot."

Hagopian said he reached out to Mayor Jeannette McCarthy a year ago and asked what it would take for the festival to occur.

"She gave me a huge list of things to do. I wasn't sure in the beginning. I gave myself a year to figure it out all out," he said.

Yesterday, McCarthy said she felt the festival was good for the youth of Waltham.

"It's something good for the kids," she said. "The reason why we said yes was, one, it's local kids, two, they want to make it free so everyone can come. It will be over before it's too dark. It shouldn't really disturb people at night."

Hagopian said his first task was to rent porta-potties.

"Once I (got) those I said there was no turning back," he said. "They were $100 a porta-potty and I got five of them. I probably didn't need five of them but that's the lesson learned for next year," adding he hopes to make Rock of Waltham an annual outdoor event.

Next came meetings with city officials, which included contacting heads of the city's Health Department, Wires Department and Police Department.

"To be honest, the hardest part of this festival was getting a common date for all the bands," he said. "I continuously was checking in with all the bands. It had to be a Saturday during the summer. This show was originally planned for July, but the only date I could find was June 28."

Luckily, he received help from a number of sources, including Watertown Savings Bank, Lizzy's Ice Cream, Timeless Tanning and Next Generation Skating Shop, which pitched in to sponsor the event.

"A lot of the bands have been helping out also. We've been having meetings," Hagopian said. "(My friend) Joe Tibbs, he found us a sound guy. The girls from The AndWutz, they've helped out a lot. Frank Pino, who is the lead singer of (the band) Waltham, he's been helping me as well ... it's not something I did alone, everyone worked together."

He said his band will also be celebrating their album release during the festival.

"(The album is) called 'Don't Bet a Penny on Tomorrow'," he said. "We think that no matter what your sound, music is music and it's an expression ... we should all just stick together. We love bringing musicians together. If you come to this show, there's a good chance you will hear something you like."

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/rockofwaltham or e-mail rockofwaltham@yahoo.com.

Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jgilbrid@cnc.com

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